Reconciliation and forgiveness – the First Peoples’ outlook

This was posted today on Facebook by Chief Kenny Blacksmith, a prominent Jesus Follower among the Indigenous people of Canada. He also led the opening segment of the Voices Together / Sea to Sea online event on July 1 (which I re-named “Kanata Day” — more on that tomorrow). Chief Kenny has kindly given permission to pass it along here.

In times of unrest, reeling from the ramifications of the exposing of what was hidden, I am reminded to anchor on our journey of hope and healing.

Before settlers came. Before governments were established. Before any church was established. What was life like among our peoples in Canada?

I suggest not all was well. There was always a need for hope, healing and freedom a negative past.

In 2006, we gathered as pastors, leaders and individuals, young, old, men and women. For three days we prayed, we worshipped our Heavenly Father. We fellowshipped. Then we encountered a baptism of the Father’s unconditional love. We acknowledged our need to reconcile to one another as First Nations, Inuit, Métis. We took ownership of the historical unresolved root issues that separated us from one another. We made things right between ourselves. We made things right between ourselves and our Heavenly Father. As the original and host peoples of Canada we believed, in faith, hope, and love that healing would come to our people and nation.

We knew the ones to benefit the most from forgiveness would be those who forgave – not the forgiven. We knew our healing and our freedom would come from the power of forgiveness.

We knew forgiveness could not be bought, sold or traded. Forgiveness could not be achieved through political or legal means. We knew true, real life-giving, long-lasting forgiveness was spiritual.

Forgiveness was a journey and it was not the end by a means to return to it time and time again, and relive the power of forgiveness.

“Then Peter came to Him and said, “Master, how often shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Yeshua said to him, “No, not up to seven times, I tell you, but seventy times seven!” (Matthew‬ ‭18:21-22‬ ‭TLV)

We can forgive, and we must forgive until there is freedom.‬‬

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The text in the images below is difficult to read. Please click on the images to read them in .pdf form.

Read the whole document here.

Bring the light!

Note: I just learned that the phrase “dark to light” has been co-opted as some kind of code by by the far-right conspiracy site “QAnon”. In case someone thinks there’s a connection, o changed the headline.

I woke up this morning with this passage in my head:

The people that walked in darkness / Have seen a great light;

Those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death, / Upon them a light has shined.

— Isaiah 9:2

There is darkness to be found all over these days: the pandemic, the growing strife in the USA, bushfires in Australia, climate change, polluted water on First Nations reserves in Canada, sectarian and tribal conflict all over the world …

Yet there is a light the has already shone on us — note the past tense in that final phrase: it’s not “coming”, it’s already here — and we have to keep looking towards it. As John says,

In [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of men,

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

— John 1:4-5

For all the sources of darkness around us, the Light of Jesus Christ far overpowers it. That is the good news for us, and also good news for those around us, as we show that Light and lift others out of the darkness of our physical world, giving praise and glory to the Father and the Son.

There are some “logistical” issues to deal with, mind you: more on that on Monday. In the meantime, let’s rejoice in the Light, and let our joy be contagious!

Convincing your NBF – part deux

Originally published in March 2019

So … (continuing a thought we started yesterday) you’ve got your NBF (non-believing friend) to a point of “Hmm …” when showing how today’s scene, with its wars, terrorism, climate change, rampant, incurable diseases, and earthquakes in diverse places, was foretold 2,000 years ago by Jesus Christ.

But then, your NBF comes back with, “Yeah? So then what happens? Gotcha!” 

“Well,” you reply, “things get worse. Jesus says those are the beginning of sorrows. But then He comes back.”

“Yeah? When? Does the Bible say that?”

“Nope. In face, Jesus says only God knows when that will be.”

“Hmm …”

“Have you been watching the news? Scientists, saying there’s going to be a big die-off in the oceans?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s in there, too.” (Revelation 8:9)

At which point, you hand your NBF a copy of the Bible and say, “The thing to remember is, if the Bible called this right, what else is in there that we need to know? And the stuff in here is mainly encouraging — like, no matter what you’ve done wrong in your life, you can turn to Jesus, God will forgive you and Jesus will help you not to keep doing it. But don’t take my word for it. You can read it for yourself. That’s how much God loves us: He wants us to know what’s going to happen, and how to be safe when it does.”

You get the picture: point out the plain-language parts where the Bible foretells what we’re seeing today, and work on your NBF’s intelligence and free will to read the Bible for her- or himself.

We know how close our world is to the greatest Come to Jesus Moment of them all, and Jesus gave us our marching orders: lead others to Him, love others as He loves us, and keep crying out to God: “… when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8b)

If we’re doing our job, He will.

A Very Convenient Truth – a challenge and an opportunity

Another major action is planned for my city today (and others around the world, apparently): environmental activists plan to shut down the Johnson Street Bridge, except for bicycles, pedestrians and transit buses, to demand action on climate change. It’s hard to say whether they will win the hearts and minds of the general public by inconveniencing people, but they will certainly get to show off their eco-righteousness, all the while ignoring a key point.

The universe is unfolding exactly the way God says it will. He warned us 2,000 years ago and He’s been warning us since long before that. The events we’re seeing are the things Jesus said would precede His return … the thing is, He doesn’t say by how much they’re preceding His return … that is, His return is imminent, but there’s nothing to indicate that it will be tomorrow, next year or next century …

Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them, a sign from heaven.

He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’;

“and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.”

— Matthew 16:1-3

The fact is, we need to be awake and aware. This is not a time to roll over and wait for the Rapture: the events we’re seeing are a wakeup call not simply about climate change, but for us to get our act together in all areas of our relationship with Him.

Racism, violence, hatred, tribalism, terrorism, wars, earthquakes and climate change are all related. They’re not about CO2 emissions, fossil fuels or international accords: they are a result of our falling-away from God; our refusal to consider His word, and our preference to “do it our way”.

And so these problems escalate. Is anybody asking, “how’s that working for us?”  

God’s word makes it clear that if we turn to Him, He will heal the physical stuff.

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”

— Matthew 6:33

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal the land.”

— 2 Chronicles 7:14

This leaves me wondering something. Why don’t the leaders of the environmental movement point to Scripture and the promises it holds — like 2 Chronicles 7:14, above? It seems like that is the one area that gets ignored by the movement, unless it’s to say, “Well, of course we have to take care of God’s Creation!”, and then run off to make more demands of politicians, businesspeople and ordinary folks.

So here’s the “challenge”. Two of them, in fact:

1 – to those who deny there’s a problem, and tend to be associated with the Religious Right, are you willing to take your head out of the oilsands long enough to see that all the signs Jesus told us would precede His return are happening in front of our eyes, and use this opportunity to share the Gospel far and wide?

2 – to the environmental movement, are you willing to consider the word of God above the words of David Suzuki, Al Gore or even Greta Thunberg and lead the call to general repentance for the sake of the Earth you love?

It’s not about taking care of creation: it’s about restoring our relationship with Him. If we do that, He promises to do the heavy lifting, and everything falls into place.

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My book, A Very Convenient Truth, or Jesus Warned Us There’d Be Days Like These, So Stop Worrying About the Planet and Get With His Program!, is going through yet another revision. It will be ready soon. I’ll let you know.

Lawlessness and lovelessness – the bottom line

It’s time to be direct here. I feel like I’ve been dancing around the obvious point (haven’t we all?) and after Friday’s post — which was initially written on Thursday and updated the next day — I heard a very clear Word.

So long as we continue to reject God; so long as we worship human intellect; so long as we obsess on “self”; so long as we focus on “being good” or “doing good” on our own terms: we will continue to see mass shootings, senseless killings, environmental destruction, drug addiction and death, and hatred spread over the Internet and in the mainstream media.

Any questions?

All we like sheep have gone astray,

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

— Isaiah 53:6a

God was speaking to us in the 21st Century just as much as He was to the people in Isaiah’s time. All the sorrows, the disasters, the pain we see in our world boils down to our unbelief — not that God is “punishing” us, but we have refused to choose the life that He has promised (Deuteronomy 30:19) and because of that, have walked out of His protective covering (Psalm 91:4).

Mind: I’m not talking about any one particular sin. We’re all in this, and we’re all responsible for turning back to God and setting the Jesus Example for others to follow.

Besides, look at the rest of what God tells us through Isaiah:

Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

— Isaiah 53:4-6

But as I said on Friday, Jesus may have told us that the circumstances we see today would precede His return, but that doesn’t mean we resign ourselves to them. Our job is to love others — put others’ interests ahead of our own — and love God above all. Paul likens it to running a race (1 Corinthians 9:24), where we don’t let up until we cross the finish line.

Broken

Take the spell away and turn me back into a man

And give me credit, you know I’m doing all I can

Grab onto something that you think you can hold

Grab onto something ’cause you’re growing old

Yes, I’ve been broken too

Yes, I’ve been broken too

Just like you

– from “Broken” (Burton Cummings – Kurt Winter) by The Guess Who

When someone walks into a church for the first time — whether it’s their first time at that particular church, or their first time at any church — what do they see?

One would hope they’d see welcoming faces, a glad-hand at the door, and a place where they’re comfortable to be who they are, unjudged and uncondemned by others.

But would they also see shiny, happy, people who appear to “have it all together”, who may have little use for someone who’s having a hard time with life and unsure of where to turn?

That can be intimidating — like you’re the only kid in the class with three eyes. It can make someone feel like they don’t belong — in the very place where they should belong.

It’s a tightrope we walk when we’re meeting people who are new to Christ. We want to share the good news and especially share our own testimony: we want to glorify God with the “after” picture, but we have to remember that the other person is still in the “before” state. What did our “before” picture look like? The fact that there was a “before” picture is the starting point in helping someone get to know Jesus.

So bring your soul to me and leave it here for just a while
Show the end to me and see if I can fake a smile

That 1970s song by THe Guess Who seems very à propos: you’re broken: I was too. You’re looking for answers: I know where you can find them.

It was a lesson I learned early in the time I spent on the Downtown East Side. Here’s an excerpt from my book, God at Work: a Testimony of Prophecy, Provision and People amid Poverty*:

I learned another vital lesson at Rainbow Mission: don’t try to have all the answers. Mike (a different Mike from the one you met earlier – this one’s real name was Alex and I learned later that his son was one of my friends in high school) was well into his 70s and looking back on a life filled with infidelity – on the part of his wife, himself and a business partner – and a failed business. Mike was remorseful, alright, but his way of taking responsibility was to say that he had trusted the wrong people. He was left pretty much penniless and living on the Downtown East Side. He could also quote reams of Scripture and would come up after services to talk about his woes.

Zealous as I was (and still am) to impart faith and words of life to people, I tried to do that for Mike, pulling out as much Scripture as I could think of to support it and get Mike to stop beating himself up and look to the future rather than the past. But all Mike wanted to do was talk about it, and as I was getting frustrated at trying to get him to change his outlook, he was just as frustrated that I was coming at him with the Bible rather than listening.

And God said, “learn when to shut the heck up, Drew.”

Mike was broken. I look back now and realize that, had I known to listen and admit my own previous brokenness, rather than enthuse about how I now had it all together (hah!), I might have done a better job of helping him find his way out of his own darkness.

… that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

— 1 John 1:3

Fellowship. The walk with God and Jesus is all about relationships — fellowship — and what better way to establish that relationship with a broken person, than to say, “I was broken, too — and here’s how I got un-broken”?

So let people see your joy in the Lord, but remember that you didn’t always have that joy. And that’s the starting point of your fellowship with someone who needs the joy too.

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*Now available as an e-book through online bookstores everywhere — or just click on that link to order a copy.

A Christian nation?

So on Friday, I pre-celebrated Canada Day by pointing out the ways God is a part of our national institutions. But does that mean that Canada is (or should be) a “Christian nation”?

No, and no, thank you.

“Christian nation” implies that there is only one religion and that everyone is governed by Biblical laws. Would we really want that? Would we really want to be in a country where

• People could be stoned to death for their sexual preferences
• Anything beyond accidental homicide would carry the death penalty
• A man could dispose of his wife with nothing more than a letter, or
• A partner in a dangerously abusive marriage would be forced to stay, because “God hates divorce”
• Marriage between ethnic groups would not be allowed (that ship sailed long ago, and I’m not just talking about groups you could differentiate by skin color: my great-x-3 grandparents would never have married, he being Austrian and she English)

What’s more, who would govern? Would it be a religious elder, like the judges of Israel? And what sect? Catholic? Anglican? Pentecostal? Presbyterian? Amish?

Above all, the concept implies that no one who wasn’t a Christian would be welcome. Of course, that goes against everything in the Bible about “entertaining strangers”, but non-Christians wouldn’t know about that, so wouldn’t get the chance to find out.

In other words, would we want Canada to become one giant religious silo?

That, in fact, is antithetical to being a Christian.

Coming to Jesus is not something that can be legislated. It’s a matter of personal choice: God wants us with Him, but because He is Love, He wants us to come to Him of our own accord, out of love for Him. Coming to Him by coercion is not love.

When Jesus tells us to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), He doesn’t mean to convert an entire nation at once, but to share the Gospel with individuals in all nations. Sharing is only done by developing personal relationships and establishing the trust required for someone to change their point of view. That’s especially true today, with so much mistrust and hostility directed towards Christians, and people hung up on their own “identity”.

To fulfill that Great Commission, we have to live it first, which involves welcoming people of all sorts into our country. Then, by our words and deeds, we can show them “a more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31). Through that patience that only comes when you accept that you may not see the fruit of the seed you sow, we can make our country something infinitely better than a “Christian nation”:

A NATION OF CHRISTIANS

Activism and reactionism: our way, or God’s way?

Last week, the BC Human Rights Tribunal fined a man $55,000 for running a publicity campaign against a transgender person who was running for public office.

The Tribunal found that the attacks violated the person’s human rights and caused unnecessary pain and suffering. I won’t go into the case, because that’s not the point. What I will say, is that the case has left the plaintiff looking unjustly wounded and the defendant looking like a hate-mongering twit.

“(EXPLETIVE DELETED) Christians!” many will say.

What we have here, is another head-shaking case of how not to respond when angry — not if you claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ. (I must say I was relieved to see the defendant referred to in at least one media report as an “anti-gay activist” and not as a Christian: the Bible does not tell us to go on personal attacks against people we disagree with, but to love them. End of discussion.)

Whatever our level of righteous indignation might be, when we get angry about something, our words and actions must be such that win souls to the Kingdom, and point people towards Jesus Christ. Our minds are no longer our own: we are ambassadors of Christ, which means everything we say and do must reflect Jesus — not the way we feel.

Jesus tells us there’s no reward for loving our friends (Matthew 5:46). Paul adds,

We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed.

But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,

in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;

by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,

by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left ….

— 2 Corinthians 6:3-7

Now, “give no offense” is one thing, and if someone else takes offense, that’s their problem. Nonetheless, we have to be certain that we are speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) and not baiting anyone or holding them up to ridicule. Besides, the Cross, in and of itself, is offensive to people who would rather do things their way, but if we compound the offense by attacking them personally or acting as we are their judge, they won’t come to see the truth at all — and we’ll be the ones who are held accountable.

Some things to remember:

• WE ARE NOT SOMEONE ELSE’S JUDGE
• WHEN WE SPEAK ANYTHING ABOUT ANYBODY, WE ARE SPEAKING ABOUT SOMEONE WHOM GOD HAS MADE IN HIS IMAGE, AND WE DON’T WANT TO HURT, DISRESPECT OR INJURE AN IMAGE OF GOD, DO WE?
• HOWEVER WE RESPOND TO A SITUATION, WE HAVE TO ASK OURSELVES, WILL OUR WORDS AND ACTIONS LEAD NON-BELIEVERS TO JESUS, OR WILL WE PUSH THEM AWAY FOR THE SAKE OF DEMONSTRATING OUR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS?

When we try to argue with somebody, it invariably becomes a case of “who’s right” rather than “what’s right”. When that happens, things quickly get personal, and that’s exactly how the devil wants it.

The Bible tells us clearly what’s right and what’s wrong, but Jesus calls us to build people up – not tear them down. Otherwise, how would we be different from the very people we’re opposing?

Who needs Him?

In yesterday’s post, I wrote how we are blessed that God has placed us in this time and place, because we are the ones to carry His message — the Gospel — to this generation. And I also noted that God has given us the Holy Spirit to strengthen us and give us the words.

But if we know the Gospel, have a powerful personal testimony and a modicum of courage, why do we need to rely on the Holy Spirit?

Because we’re human, is why.

“But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.

“And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.

“But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.”

— Mark 13:9-11

Now, I believe that Jesus’ words about faith use extreme illustrations. For example, we may not be interested in shifting an entire mountain into the sea, but anything up to and including that act is covered by His declaration of what we can do if we have faith “as a mustard seed, and do not doubt”.

Similarly, we may not be hauled in front of rulers and kings and forced to defend the Gospel, but He says we need to turn to the Holy Spirit to speak through us in any situation up to and including that ultimate trial.

And frankly, any time we share our faith with someone who doesn’t believe (or we don’t know what the state of their faith is), we are, in effect, defending the Gospel. And the best One to declare the Word is the Word, Himself.

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;

“for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

— Acts 1:4-5

Now, at that time, the disciples would have been revved-up and ready to get out there and declare Jesus to the world: they had seen Him return from the dead, in the flesh, over the previous 40 days, with “many infallible proofs” (Acts 1:3); and Jesus is telling them, “Cool your fans – wait for the Holy Spirit.”

We, too, may be charged-up on Jesus and ready to spread the word, and that’s exactly the time when we need to take a step back and call on the Holy Spirit to take over.

We need the Holy Spirit to guide us and provide us with the words we need, because, being human, we tend to go overboard in the fleshly desire to be right. And not just to be right, but to be seen to be right. When that happens, we often try to prove ourselves right by proving the other person wrong, and if that fails, then by proving the other person inferior. Nobody wins, and the Gospel is lost in the shuffle.

What’s more, we may run up against adversaries who are a lot more formidable than we expect – you know: the kind who might say, “well, the Bible was written by men to control others” or “Jesus set Himself up to be a martyr” or “Allah, Jehovah, God — they’re all the same, right?” You may be caught on your back foot and not know how to respond. But the Holy Spirit — Who’s heard them all, believe me — does know how to respond — or even if you should respond.

Remember that it’s all about the Gospel. Jesus reminds us, in the midst of describing being hauled in front of potentially dangerous unbelievers, that first and foremost, the Gospel must be preached. That’s the important thing, and those adversaries are much stronger than we will ever be. That’s why Jesus promises to send us the “X-Factor” — the Holy Spirit — when we call for it, who tips the scales positively, decisively and eternally, in our favour.

We are never alone in this.

Blessed are our eyes …

Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see;

“for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it.”

— Luke 10:23-24

We are seeing things these days that can be downright depressing. Climate change, wars, terrorism, diseases making a comeback or appearing for the first time, growing division and distrust among different groups of people; throw in the earthquakes in various places, and you don’t need to be an end-times wonk to recognize that these are things Jesus told us, 2,000 years ago, would happen.

Even so, it’s enough to make one yearn for the “good old days” and some, strangely, express a desire to “be like the early church”. There are times, too, when one just wants to lie back with one’s paws in the air and cry, “Come, Lord Jesus, come!”

But the first of those desires is impossible, the second is unrealistic and the third misses the whole point about why we’re here. All three distract from the fact that we are here, in the place and time that we are, because this is where God has placed us.

He hasn’t placed us in the time of the early church — I don’t know about you, but I could not have gone through what the apostles went through for the sake of the Gospel — nor in the days of William Wilberforce, or The Great Awakening, or at Azusa Street, or even as contemporaries of the young Billy Graham and David Wilkerson.

No. We’re here, now, and need to recognize that our eyes have been blessed to see the things going on that prophets — including Jesus — have spoken about for millennia, but didn’t see for themselves (except Jesus, but He knows everything). And if you consider the Beatitudes, being “blessed” is not all squirrels-and-bluebirds: it involves pain and hardship, tempered by the knowledge that God will carry you through if you turn to Him.

In this case, we are blessed to see these things for a number of reasons:

• It proves Jesus’ prophecy
• We are nearing His Return
• We have our marching orders
• God has chosen us to carry out those marching orders

On that last point, think of the scene in Major League, where Charlie Sheen’s character comes in from the bullpen with the game on the line and the manager slaps the ball into his hand and says, “You’re my man! Go get him!” Imagine God, doing the same thing with every one of us: “You’re my man (or woman)!” He says.

On top of that, God isn’t leaving us to do this on our own: He’s sent us the Holy Spirit to give us the words, the witness and the courage we’ll need to show His glory, to plant our seed, water someone else’s, and watch Him give the increase.

Is that blessing, or what?